Stephon Marbury may be right in his pregame proclamation that the Nets need Phil Jackson to right the Nets’ ship. But for the time being, their young wondrous point guard had to take matters into his own sweet hands last night to ensure his Meadowlands’ debut as a Net turned triumphant.

Marbury scored a game-high 29 points, hit a 35-foot three at the third-quarter buzzer, blew by Dallas’ Michael Finley for a huge final-minute layup and then watched in glee as stone-cold Kerry Kittles sank the winning free throws with 17.7 seconds left. And Marbury even called a play in the huddle – ‘UCLA Cut” – that worked.

It all added up to an 88-87 thriller over the Mavericks as the Nets (4-18) broke their eight-game losing streak in interim coach Don Casey’s home coaching debut.

“This team hasn’t had a lot of mental toughness,” said Marbury, who played 44 minutes, made 8 of 16 shots and 11 of 13 free throws in his third game as a Net. “You need a game like this to lift confidence. It was the perfect homecoming for me.”

Beforehand, Marbury, besides campaigning for Jackson, spoke about the Nets’ dearth of defense and discipline. For one night that changed drastically as the Nets survived barely – after Finley, hounded by Kendall Gill, saw his jumper at the buzzer rim out.

Casey credited the addition of brand-new assistant Eddie Jordan, who will be the defensive coordinator, in aiding the defensive spirit.

“We had a game plan, we had a strategy tonight,” said Marbury , whose new club was embarrassed by Toronto Tuesday night 100-85. “Guys were hitting people making cuts. There was a lot of emotion out there tonight. No one was going down the middle dunking like [Toronto’s] Vince Carter. That was embarrassing. We wore them down.”

Indeed, the Calipari-less Nets showed grit and fight for a change. Even Keith Van Horn, who knocked down former Net franchise center Shawn Bradley with a forearm shove while he was taking an open shot. The 7-6 Bradley bolted up ready to rumble as was Van Horn.

And then there was the grimacing Jayson Williams, constantly reaching down to touch his pained left thumb throughout the game but still coming through with 21 rebounds and keeping alive the rebound of Marbury’s missed floater that Kittles eventually snatched with 17.7 seconds left.

“Everyone was tight [Tuesday],” said Williams, referring to Casey’s coaching debut. “On the flight back, a lot of us were telling jokes and we loosened up.”

The Nets also survived ex-Knick Hubert Davis’ lightning shooting midway through the fourth when he hit three straight threes to turn a 75-70 Dallas deficit into a 79-75 lead with 5:04 remaining.

With 57.1 seconds left, Marbury gave the Nets an 86-85 lead when he blew left past Finley for a runner with 57.1 seconds left. After Dallas’ Gary Trent barreled inside for a field goal to put the Mavs ahead one, 87-86, it was up to Marbury again.

This time his driving floater in the lane went long but Kittles came out with the gritty rebound and got fouled.

Kittles, who had shot an airball earlier in the period and was 2-for-8, made the first free throw to tie before Dallas coach Don Nelson called a 20-second timeout, then a full timeout to freeze Kittles.

“Don Nelson,” Williams chuckled. “I haven’t seen that since CYO.”

Kittles made the winning free throw.

“He tried to play with my mind,” Kittles said. “I just stuck with it and kept confident.”

Finley’s 15-footer nearly won it. But for one night, the karma was on the Nets’ side.